so, yesterday, i bought a rare twin turbo Regal T Type. need suggestions.

M

Mike Diaz

Enlarged member
Joined
Mar 13, 2013
This is going to be a long post. I'll try to get to the point. I'm a noob here, but I've been in the car business since I was 15 (34 now). Yesterday I bought the Gale Banks/ Kenne Bell/ Doug Roe twin turbo Regal T Type that had the super awesome star trek mural on the trunk. And no, I didn't pay $200k for it.

Unfortunately, the guy who originally built the car fell on hard times and the car sat for 6 years. In that time, the car was broken into, the paint fell apart (literally), and the engine looks like it needs to come out and restored. And it will. It still runs, amazingly well actually. I only ran it for about 10 seconds after changing the oil and priming the oil pump. I don't plan on running it any more until I go through it and make sure it's OK to run. The install wasn't bad, but it could be better.

I know the engine is controversial, I've been reading through past discussions on whether or not it was the father engine for the Grand National. That's only half of the point, the engine definitely has history and it's on an unstamped block. It was built by world class builders for power and reliability. It still has the Rossi TH350 transmission, which is a plus.

I need some suggestions. I want to do what is right for the history of the car and the engine. The car itself is ultra molested, and going to be extremely hard to take it back to stock. I'm thinking about either taking the exterior of the car back to a stock look or finding a completely different car to start with. I did spend quite a bit of money for the car, so buying a top notch shell is going to be tough right now, but not out of the question. I have my own shop, so getting the work done isn't a problem.

I'd appreciate any suggestions on what to do with the car/engine/transmission. My decision will be heavily influenced by the community suggestions.

EDIT: It's done! Check page 6 of this thread: http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/th...o-regal-t-type-need-suggestions.392407/page-6

Or check out the facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SundayDriverRegal
 
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Proof
 
I'm thinking about trying to replicate the paint scheme on the background Regal, but using white base, and 2 shades of blue instead of red, only because the interior of the car is in reasonably good condition.

That is the engine on the stand in front of Gale Banks.

341pctr.jpg
 
If the motor is all Stage parts which you need to check on, I would rebuild it. The turbos and engine management systems could certainly use upgrading. That liquid intercooler might need some help too. Its a cool project and car so you cant go wrong by rebuilding all of it. The fuel system may need some upgrades and I would imagine an alky kit would be of great help too. You can stick with the TH350 but you can get a TH200R4 to live behind the motor as well. Your choice there.

Keep us posted.
 
Pretty Effin cool.. i would leave it all alone give it that historic feel just paint it to protect the body and make it look good.. someone in the future might want it original as possible. Good investment
 
The car is an 84 t type with 9700 miles. I plan on documenting whatever i do with the car. Lots of pictures to come.
 
Yes, lots of pics. The history of it's origins would be cool to know as well.
Like 87chrisss said. Keep it original.

D
 
The problem is, the car is not the original. It has a terrible paint job. A custom interior. And the body kit is about to be removed.
 
Not gonna lie, the Mountain Dew paint job would be pretty cool if it was done right but honestly you cant go wrong with something that has this level of history. Also an 84 Regal probably would be pretty cheap. Everybody wants an "86 or 87."
 
Very generous offer. I'm still making a decision to fix this car and take it back to "as stock as possible ", without spending $5000+ on a clean shell. I love the mountain dew car idea, especially since I'm in NASCAR country.
 
I would say to keep things as historically correct as you can for what the car once was. Document everything. Let us know what you need. This is a very cool and worthy project.

Congrats.:cool:

Mike Barnard
 
Ive seen other blocks that werent stamped.. they arent Stage 2 blocks.. before the Stage 2 stuff existed, they had HD blocks (Heavy Duty) and while they were beefier than a stock block, they dont have the power threshold of a Stage 2. Not to say 100% for sure yours isnt but all the Stage 2 stuff Ive seen, even the oddball one off stuff was stamped. None of the HD stuff Ive seen was. I saw a Stage 2 block one time with bores so small you couldnt fit a soda can in the cylinders.

That being said, Id like to see some more pictures of exactly what you have before I make any recommendations and knowing where you are would help to try to find someone to help you out with the engine/trans. There arent a lot of good V6 builders in the country but there are some on each coast and a couple in the middle of the country.

The transmission is a no brainer. Lonnie Diers would be my choice there. He does good work and is a true innovator.
 
My plan was only to remove the engine, take it back to a long block, clean, paint, then reseal. The car runs and drives. It really doesn't need any work besides that. Everything from the original banks build is there. I have pictures of the latest build. He used good parts. Arp head studs, etc. It only had 200 miles put on this build. What would you like pictures of? I need to bring my good camera in so i can document everything.

The guy i got it from says this is the original, he has had conversations with Gale about it. I would like to verify all of this, of course.
 
you do know that you have to get custom license plates that have the letters "FBI" in there somewhere..

you know, because of the FBI twin turbo cars...
 
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